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Team/Name: Intrepid Systems/Mark Curry, PhDAge: 53Personal: wife, Ai-ShanHometown: Lynnwood, Wash.Why Centennial Challenges: "It seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Robotics for planetary exploration has always been a keen interest for me," said Curry.Favorite Pop Culture Robot: Wall-EExtra Credit: "I listen to industrial-techno music for inspiration."› Read Full BioTeam/Name: SpacePRIDE/Chris WilliamsonAge: 29Personal: Siberian husky, NikkiHometown: Augusta, Ga.Why Centennial Challenges:To challenge himself further and see if he could stack up against the other guys like students and private sector. "I wanted to see if a small town guy could hang with everybody else."Favorite Pop Culture Robot: Johnny 5, the sentient robot from the 1986 movie "Short Circuit" because he was one of the first on-screen robots and he could interact with humans.Fun Fact: He has a Marvin the Martian tattoo.› Read Full Bio

Team/Name: SpacePRIDE/Rob MooreAge: 33Personal: son, Robert Anthony, 6Hometown: Tampa, Fla.Why Centennial Challenges: "If things are easy, they're boring," he said. He entered this competition to challenge himself against his peers.Favorite Pop Culture Robot: Bender from "Futurama"Fun Fact: He went sky diving in high school.› Read Full BioTeam/Name: Survey/Jascha LittlePersonal: No spouse, pets or children. "How else would I have time for projects like this?"Hometown: Austin, TexasWhy Centennial Challenges: "To challenge myself."Favorite Pop Culture Robot: Imperial Walkers, the four-legged machines used by the Empire from the "Star Wars" franchise.Extra Credit: "The average height of our team is 6-foot-4."› Read Full BioTeam: Terra Engineering/Todd MendenhallAge: 48Personal: wife, Valerie; birds Petie and SkyHometown: Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.Why Centennial Challenges: "To keep us out of trouble."Favorite Pop Culture Robot: Maximilian from the 1979 Disney film "The Black Hole" because "most robots only wish they could be so sinister."Extra Credit: Mendenhall was a rated beach volleyball player after college. › Read Full BioTeam: USMART (University of Pennsylvania Space and Mobile Robotics Team)Team Founded: February 2012Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.Why Centennial Challenges: "It sounded really exciting. It also sounded impossible," Cleveland said.Favorite Pop Culture Robot: "Without question, Johnny 5," said Cleveland.Extra Credit: "Much of our mechanical design has been created by software engineers," Cleveland said. › Read Full BioTeam: University of Waterloo Robotics TeamAge: 9 (started in 2003)Personal: 60 members, with an active core of 20 graduate and undergraduate studentsHometown: Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaWhy I entered CC: "The wide variety of solutions to the algorithmic problems, the community of roboticists, the exposure to exciting ideas and commiseration over common challenges," said Waslander.Favorite Pop Culture Robot: "Not sure, it is a big team; we're all pretty impressed with the latest Mars rover," he said.Extra Credit: "Our lead hardware developer is actually a finance and actuarial sciences student," said Waslander.› Real Full BioTeam/Name: Wunderkammer Laboratory/Jim RothrockAge: 46Personal: wife, Carrie; cats Java, Onyx and DanielHometown: Topanga, Calif.Why Centennial Challenges: "Because I want to do something that’s interesting and useful," he said, and added that the possibility of a sizeable monetary prize is worth the time spent. "I've learned a great deal from this."Favorite Pop Culture Robot: Giant Robot from the 1960s TV series "Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot"Extra Credit: Rothrock has been a skateboarder since 1980, and still has his original board.› Read Full Bio